Unexpected Papes
by Greenberry Hair Bonner
Summary: [ONE SHOT] A newsie with the mayor's daughter? It was unheard of in his world, or any world for that matter.
1. Good Dreams, Bad Saturdays

_**Words: 689  
Beta Readers: Fang, Idiosyncrasy, Biddy, and Twister  
**_

_Okay, here is the first chapter to my Blink fic. I wasn't as bad as I thought I was thanks to my Beta Readers! I honestly think everyone won't like this but then again I can't please everyone! I started writing this on a whim because I know Blink wants a Saturday night with the mayor's daughter so I hope my inspiration keeps up for it. With my BRs, I know this will be my best fic ever!_

_Disclaimer: Any Newsie belongs to Disney, not me. Marguerite belongs to me because I created her for this purpose. Anything that seems like the movie, most likely belongs to Disney. I'm not making money off of this.  
_

_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Good Dreams, Bad Saturdays** _

_They were enjoying a Saturday evening at Tibby's. He couldn't believe how well they were getting along. A newsie with the mayor's daughter? It was unheard of in his world, or any world for that matter._

_Marguerite gave him an award-winning smile, and he returned one of his own. He slowly slid his hand over hers which made her blush and lean closer to him. Marguerite couldn't believe how sweet he was. Believing she was in heaven to meet someone so perfect, she couldn't resist it any longer and leaned over to kiss..._

Blink shot up and wiped sweat from his brow. "It was just a dream," he said to no one in particular. Looking around the lodging house living quarters, he saw that everyone else was asleep. He leaned over the side of his top bunk and tried to wake Racetrack. "Race, hey Race," he quietly said. Race mumbled and rolled over. Blink hopped off his bunk and shook Race. "Race," he said again.

"What?" Race growled.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Blink asked with an urgent tone in his voice.

Race sat up rubbing his eyes and looked at Blink. "What?"

"I had another dream," Blink started.

"It was just a dream, Blink. Nothing else," Race assured and laid back down.

"This time she was about to kiss me," he continued, unable to hold back the excitement.

"Go back to sleep. We can talk later," Race mumbled. Disappointed, Blink climbed back on his bunk and laid down. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

_"Blink?" Marguerite sounded concerned._

_"What's the matter?" he said cradling her cheek with his hand._

_"I'm sorry, but I can't see you anymore." A tear rolled down her cheek._

_"Why not?" Blink said as he moved his hand up to wipe away her lone tear._

_"My father doesn't allow it. I can't go against my own father. I'm sorry," she apologized as she turned and ran out the door._

Marguerite...don't...please, don't leave." _Blink started after her but then stopped._

"Hey!" Race jabbed Blink in the side with his finger. "Get up you lazy bum!"

Blink shot up and looked around. Race, Mush, and Jake were all staring at him with identical smirks. "What?" Blink asked.

"Marguerite...don't...please, don't leave," Jake mocked.

"What are you talking about?" Blink tried not to snap.

"Dreaming about Marguerite again?" Mush laughed.

"Shut up." Blink swung his legs over the side of his bunk and hopped down.

"Come on, Blink. Take a joke," Mush added and continued to the wash area of the quarters. Blink grabbed his socks and boots and sat on Race's bed to put them on.

"You know it's impossible for you two to even think about being together," Race stated as he sat next to him. Blink didn't say a word. As soon as he finished tying his boot laces, he stood up and went straight to the bathroom. He didn't want to hear anymore of the other boys' mocks.

"Hey Blink!" Crutchy greeted him as he came out of the bathroom.

"Crutchy," Blink lamely replied.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Can it wait until later?" Blink was in a bad mood after the others were making fun of him.

"Yeah, I guess," Crutchy shrugged and walked into the bathroom.

Blink walked over to a sink to wash his face. He splashed his face with cool water and grabbed a towel. After patting his face dry and tossing the towel next to the sink, Blink went back to his bunk to finish dressing. He threw his shirt on and tucked it in to his pants. He then pulled on his cap and put his bandana on as he walked out the door. Blink knew there wasn't a way that the _real_ mayor's daughter, Marguerite Van Wyck, would even look at him. He must be crazy to even dream about it.

"What's the matter with Blink?" Jack asked Race.

"Nothing, he was just dreaming about--"

"Marguerite," Mush interrupted in a singsong voice.

"Leave him alone boys," Jack said, and then added, "I'll talk to him."


	2. Chance Encounter

_**Words: 717  
**__**Beta Readers: Fang, Idiosyncrasy, Biddy, Twister**_

_A big thank you goes out to my Beta Readers: Fang, Idiosyncrasy, Biddy, Twister. Without ya'll I wouldn't have the great reviews I received. Thanks again!_

Jester_ – I'm glad you really like it. I'm so happy that someone believes everyone will love it. I really appreciate your review because you sealed the "fate" of this fic. I will continue it and finish it._

Fantasy3_ – I'm happy you like it! I'm going to update this fic as soon as I can with a new chapter. When I work, I normally can be held up to 18 hours and that's a long time in the sun. It's very physically exhausting but with reviews saying they love it, keeps me going. So thank you so much._

Miyamashi_ – Aww…Morgie! You actually started reading it! I'm happy you like it. I know Blink has it hard right now. I won't tell you if it will look up or not but I'm glad you like! **.xx**_

_**Best Beta Reader Award for Chapter One:**_

_I am proud to present this award to **Fang** for her brutal honesty with how chapter one seriously went! I really appreciate it! I love brutal honesty because even though it hurts, it's the best thing you can receive! Thank you and congratulations!_

_Thanks for the reviews and I'm glad it's looking good so far. Here's chapter two for ya'll and I hope ya'll continue to like it!_

**_Disclaimer: _Newsies_ belongs to Disney, not me. Marguerite belongs to me because I created her for this purpose. Anything that seems like the movie, most likely belongs to Disney. I'm not making money off of this.

* * *

_**_**Chapter 2: Chance Encounter**_

"Extra! Extra!" Blink yelled. He was being swamped with customers and he could barely keep up with selling his papers. _I should have bought more papers today,_ he thought to himself as he realized how unusually busy the street he referred to as his "selling spot" was. He stopped to sit down on the curb for a minute once the last customer in a crowd was satisfied.

Blink put his head in his hands to scratch it. As he looked up he noticed a policeman. _I hope he's not looking for me_, he thought to himself as he turned his head away from him. Blink looked out of the corner of his eye and watched the policeman continue on his way around the corner. Rushing across the street to sell more papers, Blink began thinking of more headlines in his head.

"Smallest baby in the world!" Blink yelled as a man walked up to him. Grabbing the penny from the man, he noticed a beautiful silhouette not more than five feet from him. _Who's that?_' he thought. He quickly handed a paper to the man and made his way over to her. Continuing his "improved" headlines, he handed a paper to a gentleman with a beautiful woman on his arm. _It's her!_ Blink quickly looked around and then started walking in the opposite direction, until he came to an alley that he could duck into.

"This can't be," he stammered. He began looking through a paper for the most interesting headline. Blink didn't want to lie to the girl if she decided to actually buy a paper from him. Closing the paper and refolding it, he looked into the alley and took a deep breath before he decided to walk back into the street.

"May I have one?" a feminine voice said behind him. Blink jumped and then froze. He slowly turned around and was all of a sudden face to face with the most beautiful girl he had ever seen: with her long, brown, wavy hair, it was the mayor's daughter. The _real_ Marguerite Van Wyck. "Well, may I?" she prompted as she held out a five cent piece.

"Y-yes," he stammered as he grabbed for a paper. As he handed it to her and took the five cent piece, she thanked him with that award-winning smile from his dreams. Marguerite didn't wait for her change and allowed him to keep the extra four cents! Blink began to remember his dream the previous night.

"Hey! Are you in there?" Jake said as he knocked on Blink's head.

"Stop that!" Blink yelled as he tried to swat Jake's hand away. "What do you want?"

"You done selling yet? I'm hungry."

"Then go eat." Blink turned and tried to go back to selling his last dozen papers.

"I was going to buy you something." Jake tried to tempt Blink halfheartedly.

Blink sighed and agreed to meet Jake at Tibby's in a half hour. Jake smiled and spit into his hand for a shake and Blink returned the gesture. "See you there," Jake called as Blink sauntered off.

"Extra! Extra! Pulitzer beats out Hearst!" Blink yelled. He smiled as a crowd came up to him holding out pennies and five cent pieces for a paper. Acting as a professional, Blink didn't show how he struggled when he juggled change and the papers to his customers. A few of them even shook their heads and allowed him to keep the change.

"Extra! Extra!" Blink tried to sell his last paper before that previous crowd came back and demanded change for the twisted headline he had yelled out. He didn't lie. Blink just didn't elaborate that it was just a poker game. _Finally_, he thought as a customer held out a penny. Blink handed the lady his last paper and ran off to meet Jake at Tibby's.

- - - - -

Blink walked into Tibby's and noticed Jake at one of the boys' usual tables: right in the center of the restaurant. He walked over and sat down as Bill walked up with Jake's food. "The usual," Blink said and Bill walked off to fill the order.

"Good day?" Jake asked, implying the paper sales.

Remembering his encounter with the mayor's daughter, he smiled with the comment, "Yeah, really good."


	3. Fun at Someone Else's Misfortune

_**Words: 920  
**__**Beta Readers: Fang, Idiosyncrasy, Biddy, Twister**_

_Thank you to my Beta Readers for another awesome edit job because I know this chapter would be **terrible** without ya'll!_

Stress_ – I'm glad you like it so far. Thank you for your review and glad that you're happy for Blink._

Sparrow _– I'm so happy you like this fic. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can._

_**Beta Reader Award for Chapter Two:**_

_I am proud to present this award to **Biddy** because of her top marks on pointing out everything and putting up with my bullheaded self! Thank you and much congrats!_

_Thank you for the reviews everyone and I hope you enjoy this chapter._

**_Disclaimer: _Newsies_ belong to Disney, not me. Marguerite belongs to me because I created her for this purpose. Stress belongs to Stress because she just does. Anything that seems like the movie, most likely belongs to Disney. I'm not making money off of this._**

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Fun at Someone Else's Misfortune**_

"Where is it, Jake?" a boy yelled at him from under his bunk.

"I don't know. What're you looking for?" Jake replied with his famous mischievous grin. He twirled a newsboy cap on his pointer finger.

Pulling his head out from under the bunk, Dutchy banged it hard on the frame. "Ow!" He looked at Jake as he rubbed his head and cursed at him. "Why can't you grow up for a change?"

Pretending to be shocked, Jake brought his hands to his chest and gasped. "Dutchy, how could you say such a thing?"

"All right then. Why can't you pick on someone else?" Dutchy countered.

"It wouldn't be the same," he said as Dutchy snatched the cap from Jake's grasp.

"I think you could manage at someone else's misfortune." He smirked as he strutted out the door, nearly knocking Blink over. "Sorry," Dutchy muttered. Jamming the cap on his head, he continued down the steps.

Blink walked into the living quarters of the lodging house, climbed on his bunk, and closed his eyes.

"You all right?" Jake asked as he walked over to him.

"Fine," Blink replied as he rolled over and curled up.

Giving a quizzical look to Blink, Jake shrugged as he started to walk out. "You know," Blink began, "I sold a paper to Marguerite Van Wyck—"

"-- I know," Jake said, cutting him off. "You told me the whole story at Tibby's, remember?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Then what's eating you?"

"Nothing." Blink sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bunk. "I was just thinking that maybe I can sell her a paper every day. I just don't know how I am going to do it."

A smile spread across Jake's face. _Maybe Dutchy was right when he said that I could manage some fun at "someone else's misfortune". Here's my chance! Blink is swooning over the mayor's daughter, as always, and I could offer to help him --_

"Don't even think about it," Blink interrupted Jake's thoughts.

"What?"

"I don't need your help." Blink answered as he knew what Jake was thinking.

"But you said you didn't know how to do it," Jake tried to say calmly, but made it sound like an accusation.

"I'll figure something out." Blink lay back down and closed his eyes again. Jake opened his mouth to try to persuade him but Blink stopped him. "I don't need it," he said as he put his hand up like he was saying stop.

"Fine," Jake began, trying to tempt Blink. "I won't help then." Jake turned to walk out of the room but stopped. "Why are you going to bed so early anyway?"

Blink looked at Jake with a small hint of annoyance on his face. "It's eight o'clock."

"Exactly," Jake said with a grin on his face like this was the first time he was right about anything.

With a small sigh and a quick deep breath, Blink looked at Jake. "I want to get up early, that's all."

"All right." Jake shrugged and finally left Blink to his early rest. "Hey watch it!" he yelled as Jack ran into him.

"Sorry Jake. I have to talk to Blink."

"I wouldn't even try it. He's trying to get to bed early." Jake said as he half-heartily bounded down the steps.

"Oh well, I promised the boys," he said with a look of curiosity and walked into the room.

Blink moaned and prepared himself for the new annoyance.

"Blink, can I ask you something?" Jack said as he rushed in the door.

"What?" Blink said, without opening his eyes.

"Why are you snapping at the boys?"

"I'm not." Blink sat up and looked at Jack.

"Then what's eating you?" Jack asked as he sat on Snipeshooter's bunk.

"Nothing," he stated calmly.

"Then why are you yelling at the boys?"

"I didn't," Blink simply stated.

Jack looked at Blink and stood up to walk out of the room. "Wait," Blink said with an apologetic tone. "I was just tired of them getting in my business."

"What business?" Jack asked.

"I guess I kind of talked in my sleep." Blink looked down and continued his explanation. "I have these dreams about Marguerite and I've been telling Race about them, but –"

"You know that you and her –"

"-- Just can't be." Blink interrupted Jack and lay back down.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bother you."

"It's all right." Blink closed his eyes and tried to sleep so he can get an early start on the morning run.

Jack paused before he walked out the door. He wanted to say more to Blink but he gave up and left the room. As he cleared the door, Jack noticed a girl leaning against the wall to the right.

"What are you doing here this late?" Jack asked her.

"Just need to talk to Blink." Stress shrugged and slid past Jack.

"Blink? Can I ask you something?" She sauntered over to him.

Blink opened his eyes and looked at the new intruder. "You just did, Stress. Two of them."

Stress harrumphed.

"Well? Are you going to ask it?" Blink gave in.

"Jake told me that you sold a paper to Marguerite today," she stated.

"That's not a question," he told her as he struggled to keep his annoyance unnoticed.

"Well, did you?"

"Yeah," he replied. With that he rolled over and closed his eyes again.

"That's all I wanted to know," she said with a smile, and left Blink alone.


	4. Guttersnipe

_**Words: 976  
**__**Beta Readers: Fang, Idiosyncrasy, Biddy, Twister**_

_This goes to all my reviewers because I still love reading them over and over again. Please continue reading and passing this story on to other _Newsies_ fans so they can read it to! I would really appreciate it!_

_I'm no longer going to thank individual reviewers here because I reply to all my reviews. For those of you without an account or who don't sign in. Thank you very much for your inspiring (even thought you may not think they are) words! They really keep me going!_

**_Beta Reader Award for Chapter Three:_**

_This award goes to Twister for her wonderful attitude towards that difficult chapter! I really hated that chapter but she went through and corrected it like crazy! Wow! Thank you Twister for your awesome beta reading!  
_

**_Disclaimer: _Newsies_ belong to Disney, not me. Marguerite belongs to me because I created her for this purpose. Anything that seems like the movie, most likely belongs to Disney. I'm not making money off of this._**_**

* * *

Chapter 4: Guttersnipe**_

Blink walked around the square selling his papers quickly. As he juggled the large stack of unsold papers and customers' change, he glanced around to see if he could spot Marguerite. _No where in sight_, he thought as he handed over four cents and a paper to a waiting customer.

Wearing a clean shirt, his vest buttoned up to look more professional, Blink selected a newspaper and folded it in half. He tucked it nicely in his vest for the mayor's daughter, just in case he ran out of papers, and continued selling the other ones. "Extra! Extra! Triplets born on Saint Patrick's Day!"

"I'll take one, young man," a gentleman said. Blink quickly took the penny and handed him a paper.

Now crowded with customers, Blink hurried with exchanging pennies and nickels for papers. He gave a few of the customers, the ones that had given him nickels, four cents back as well. Sometimes, they allowed him to keep the extra four cents.

Blink set his papers down on a nearby bench and removed his cap to smooth his hair. Normally, Blink didn't care too much about how his hair looked, but because he wanted Marguerite to notice him, he took extra care in everything he did. _Where is she today?_ Blink thought to himself as he looked around the square. _There she is!_ He picked his papers up and hurried toward the girl.

"Would you like a paper, miss?" Blink asked, quickly removing the paper from his vest. As the girl turned around and looked at him, she smirked, and Blink was horrified. It wasn't Marguerite.

"No, I don't need a paper," she said and stalked off.

"Damn it," Blink muttered under his breath and turned to look around the square once again. He couldn't find a single soul that looked remotely like Marguerite. Dissatisfied, Blink folded the paper and tucked it back into his vest as nicely as he could. He looked around for the biggest group in the square and headed straight for one outside of the periodicals shop.

"Extra! Extra! Flames below Fourteenth Street!" he yelled while approaching crowd. A few people held out pennies. Blink juggled his papers as he passed them out.

"I'll take one," a few more people echoed. Blink grabbed their coins and continued passing out papers. Once the last customer in the crowd was pleased, Blink looked for more potential buyers.

"Daily turmoil at the refuge!" Blink yelled into a group of passerby. Blink quickly grabbed pennies and handed out papers. _Please, don't buy anymore_, Blink thought to himself as a customer took a paper from him. It was his last one besides the one in his vest, which he was saving for Marguerite.

"I'd like one," a man said from behind him.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't have anymore."

"There's one right there," the man said, pointing at Blink's vest.

Blink looked down unnecessarily at the lone paper that was tucked neatly in his vest. Grudgingly, he removed it and took the nickel the man held out. Instead of handing over the paper, Blink made a run for it.

"You dirty street rat! Come back here with my money!" the man yelled after him.

Blink ran around a corner and into a passerby. "Watch it, filthy street rat!" said a man in a well tailored business suit.

"I'm sorry, sir." Blink hurried by the gentleman and into a small dress shop.

"Get out of here!" a woman yelled at him with a disgusted look on her face.

Blink hurried out of the shop and back into the street. He didn't want to cause anymore trouble than he already had. Blink started to turn, and he ran in the opposite direction and he hurdled straight into the arms of a policeman.

"What's your hurry, boy?" the officer asked.

"No hurry," Blink said as he straightened up.

"Watch where you're going next time, then," the policeman told him and strode past him.

Blink wiped the sweat from his brow and began to power walk across the street towards the lodging house on Duane Street. As he pushed through a crowd he thought he noticed the mayor's daughter. He was in pursuit. He didn't want this one to get away because he was sure it was her.

"Excuse me, miss?" Blink said as he put his hand on the girl's shoulder.

"What?" she snapped as she spun around. "Oh, it's you again. Do you have a problem with me or something, street rat?"

"Oh, no, no…I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else." Blink spun on his heels and ran back across the street. He didn't care where, as long as he got away from her.

As Blink came around the next corner, he stopped and leaned up against a lamp post so he could search once more for Marguerite. "Got you," a man grabbed Blink by his vest.

"Hey! Let me go!" Blink squirmed as hard as he could. It was the man that he had run from earlier as he stole the nickel.

"Not until I get my paper and four cents," he said as he snatched the paper out of Blink's vest.

"I can't sell that one!" Blink tried to grab the paper, but the man held it out of his reach.

"Now the four cents," he told Blink as he held out his hand.

Blink mumbled under his breath as he jammed his hand in his pocket for the change. Handing over the four cents, Blink gave the man a little bow and watched as he walked off. "Guttersnipe," he grumbled inaudibly and made a rude gesture at the man's back.

Blink spun on his heel and headed across the new street and onto Duane Street. He couldn't sell a paper to Marguerite. Depressed, he dragged his feet back to the lodging house.


	5. Excuse Me, Miss Van Wyck?

_**Words: 1037**__**  
Beta Readers: Biddy, Fang, Idiosyncrasy, Twister**_

_I would like to especially like to send out a special thanks to Firecracker for her lovely input when I asked what I should do. I just built from there! Thanks love! I don't know if I could have kept writing this chapter without you. I really appreciate it! 3 Love ya!_

_Okay, here's Chapter 5. Wow! These are getting harder to write as we go along. I'm running out of ideas to put in. I mean, I know where I want to go and how to make it end, I'm just getting to the point where writer's block is about to set in. Wow! And I'm only 5 chapters in! That's bad, right? Well, I hope ya'll like this one, because I'm beginning to wonder if people are still reading. I mean, my hits keep going down. starts panicking a little Okay, breathe, Hair, breathe. takes a couple of deep breathes and settles down_

_Okay, enough of that. Here's the BRA (haha! BRA!) for Chapter 4! Can't wait for your reviews everyone!_

**_Beta Reader Award for Chapter Four:_**

_The Beta Reader Award for Chapter four goes to Biddy for her absolutely awesome beta work! Without her, I would seriously be lost! I love you girl!_

**_Disclaimer: _Newsies_ belong to Disney, not me. Marguerite belongs to me because I created her for this purpose. Anything that seems like the movie, most likely belongs to Disney. I'm not making money off of this._**

_**Stress belongs to Stress. Echo belongs to Echo. Gimmick belongs to Gimmick. Why? They just do. That's why.

* * *

Chapter 5: Excuse Me, Miss Van Wyck?**_

Stress, Echo, and Gimmick were fumbling around when Blink walked through the door to Tibby's the next day. He looked at the three newsgirls and asked, "What're you three up to?"

"Nothing," they replied in unison.

Blink acted as if he believed them and walked over to sit at the usual table; in the middle of the restaurant. "The usual," he told Bill when the waiter opened his mouth to ask him what he wanted. Bill turned around and walked away to fill the order.

"Hey, guess who I met today," Stress came around Blink with Echo and Gimmick following.

Blink looked at the girls. Gimmick, a short and sweet girl, seemed unusually cheery. She wore an enormous smile and pranced behind Stress. On the other hand, Echo, a short and cute girl, looked extremely uncomfortable and seemed more dumbfounded then anything. She was her usual cheery self nevertheless.

"Who's that, Stress?" Blink asked, turning his attention away from them.

"Well, it's funny really," Gimmick chimed in. "I didn't even know she was that ugly," she said, as Stress shot a deadly look at her and mouthed the words, _Shut up_.

Gimmick complied and Stress continued telling Blink about the mystery person, who Gimmick generously mentioned was a girl.

"Who is she, Stress?" Blink set his elbow on the table. He was beginning to lose his temper. Blink was normally a happy person. Who would have thought that he could be this aggravated, especially over a girl he could never have?

"Marguerite," Stress stated simply when she realized Blink was getting upset.

Blink looked around. "Where'd you see her?"

"She came in a few minutes before you did," she replied. A small smile formed on her lips.

_There!_ He noticed long brown hair two tables away from him. She was facing away from him. _What if it's not her? What if I go over there and it's that…girl?_ Blink looked back at Stress for a moment before turning his attention back to the mysterious, long hair.

"Well," Stress said, "Are you going to go over to her?"

Blink slowly stood up and casually walked over to the mystery girl, who he believed to be the mayor's daughter. _You can do this. Just gently touch her shoulder and say, "Excuse me, Miss Van Wyck?" and she'll turn around._ He looked back at Stress and she motioned for him to keep going. He looked at Gimmick and Echo. Although they appeared clueless, they mimicked Stress' gesture.

Finally, turning back around, Blink touched the girl's shoulder and said, "Excuse me, Miss…Miss…" Blink stepped back shocked.

"Oh, my darling, where have you been?" Jake said in a high pitched voice, turning around and clasping Blink's hands in his. "I've been looking all over for you!" he went on using that same voice.

"What the hell?" Blink felt utterly abashed and pulled away immediately, before he continued with, "What are you doing?"

Spot and Racetrack came out from under the table, laughing hysterically. "Did you see his face?" Racetrack asked Spot, trying to control his laughter.

Spot, unable to take in a good breath, only nodded. Blink looked back at the girls and noticed Gimmick and Echo looking at each other. Then he saw Stress keeling over with laughter. Blink stormed out of the restaurant and started back towards the lodging house.

Blink stopped and sat on a curb a couple of blocks away from Tibby's on Main Street. He looked around and watched as crowds of people walked past him; the shoe shine boy was shining a man's boots, newsboys were running along trying to get people to buy their papers, and a young girl in a dark blue skirt was crossing the street.

_That's her!_ Blink shot up and ran towards the young girl as she stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the dress shop. Blink couldn't reach her before she went inside. He took a deep breath as he followed her in the store.

"A new dress for your mother?" The owner walked up to him with a straight face. In return, he shook his head. "If you're not going to buy anything, then leave," she replied and continued past him toward Marguerite.

Blink walked outside and stopped to look back in. He noticed the girl smile and then continue browsing. Blink sat down on a nearby bench and waited for her.

Beginning to get restless, he got up and started pacing. He didn't have a paper to sell her, so what was he going to say? Blink's mind began to race and he sat back down as he went over things in his head. _Well, she seemed nice, so I don't think she'll yell at me for anything. What if she does, though? I mean, at least I look cleaner than usual. Besides, I don't have anyone here irking me. I can do this. Wait! What am I going to say? I can't just say, "Nice weather we're having." That's just stupid. I'm an idiot! Wait, she won't talk to me! She's the mayor's daughter! Why would she? She can make anyone's head turn. I'm sure she has someone her father approves of, but maybe she's nice enough to at least acknowledge me. Just maybe._

Blink snapped back to reality as he noticed Marguerite walk out the door. "Excuse me, Miss?" he asked, walking up to her quickly.

She turned around and looked at him. Blink stood there and gawked at her. She was more beautiful than the day he sold that paper to her. Marguerite smiled at his expression and waited for him to continue.

Blink was flabbergasted. He, trying to find something to say, began to mill his mind. _She's waiting! She's actually waiting for me to say something! What am I to say? Oh God! I'm not ready! Damn it! Why can't I just say something? Quit thinking and say something before it's too late!_ "Um…"

Marguerite gave a small nod and walked away. _Damn it! You fool! Why didn't you open your mouth? "Um…"? Is that all you could say? You stupid idiot!_

Blink began to walk back towards Duane Street. He hated himself for letting his opportunity to greet Marguerite slip away.


End file.
